After huge wins over Miami and Auburn, LSU rose to the No. 5 team in the country, and Tiger fans had their eyes on a College Football Playoff berth early on. Then LSU traveled to Florida, and fell short in The Swamp, 27-19.

After the loss, a Playoff spot looked next to impossible with games against Georgia and Alabama still on the horizon.

However, according to Neil Paine of FiveThirtyEight, the Bayou Bengals still control their own destiny to finish in the top four at the end of the season.

“If LSU wins out, our model says it would have a greater than 99 percent chance of making the playoffs,” writes Paine.

Paine also writes that LSU would have an even better shot of making the field with some help with a division rival.

“Auburn could end up doing its SEC West rivals yet another favor by winning the Iron Bowl over Alabama in late November” Paine continues. “LSU’s chances of making the playoff are about 3 percentage points higher in our simulations where Auburn beats Alabama than vice versa.

“In fact, any Alabama loss would generally help LSU’s chances of making the playoff because it would give the Tigers the edge over the Tide in the division.”

As of right now, the site gives LSU a 4 percent chance to make the College Football Playoff. On the horizon are games against ranked teams such as Georgia, Mississippi State, Alabama, and Texas A&M.

It is a tall task for LSU, but not as impossible as it seemed in the wake of the loss to the Gators in Week 6.